I’m coming at you with another recipe tonight. About time, right? If chicken sausage, spinach, lentils and balsamic onions sound like your type of thing, this soup should be too. Update: I’m not getting any better at naming recipes.

Chick-spin Lent-bals Soup

Serves: 4 (in this case 3, after seconds and thirds)

Time: 15-20 minutes hands on & 1 hour 15 minutes cook time

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Vidalia Onion
• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 lb Chicken Sausage (plain or flavored), cut into bite-sized pieces
• Thyme
• 1/3 cup Short Grain Brown Rice
• 1 cup Lentils
• 6 cups Low-sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 small can Diced Tomatoes (with juice)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 3 Garlic Cloves, peeled
• 5-6 handfuls Fresh Spinach
• Pepper to taste

Directions:

• Get yourself a sturdy soup pot with a lid
• Into the pot goes 2 tbsp olive oil and half the onion, saute until soft and starting to brown
• Stir in 2 tsp balsamic vinegar and transfer onions to separate bowl. Leave to the side until the very end
• Into the medium-high temperature pot go 2 tbsp olive oil, the other half of the onion and your chicken sausage. Cook until browned
• Stir in lentils and brown rice.
• Add chicken broth, tomatoes with juice, bay leaf and garlic.
• Bring this to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour (until lentils are soft). Stir occasionally (aka, whenever you remember).
• Go fishing to remove the garlic cloves and bay leaf
• Stir in your spinach one handful at a time, until all is wilted.
• Sprinkle on the black pepper and add your leftover balsamic.
• Ladle into bowls, get fancy topping it with your balsamic onions and enjoy!

There’s more solid food than liquid, so I guess technically this one is closer to a stew. Either way, it was delicious and I wish there were enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Don’t be discouraged if this recipe seems too difficult for you, it’s actually extremely simple. If you can measure, cut, and turn a dial on the stovetop, you’re in business. I’m not naturally gifted in the kitchen by any means; I’m honestly horrible at baking cookies, and let’s not forget the time I burned my batch of homemade granola. I make some pretty mean Rice Krispies Treats and crumb cake though. Can’t win them all.

I literally JUST realized tomorrow is Friday. Guess that tells you how much I’m liking the new job, huh? The days fly by and I actually find myself wanting to stay later to continue working on projects; Never thought I’d see the day. The path to this position was certainly a long and strange one, but I feel blessed to be right where I am. 

~A~

What now?

• JMU love: You know you’re a duke when…
• Seriously important intel: Pentagon Study Finds Beards Directly Related To Combat Effectiveness
• Long Live by Taylor Swift. It’s the girl in me. 
• After watching the advertisement before that video, how many of you want to see What to Expect When You’re Expecting?? Just me.